Monday, September 21, 2009

You Say You Want a Dog Parade? You Got It!

In Belltown, many things are possible, including the occasional dog parade. And although the Olympic Sculpture Park isn't really in Belltown (it's part of the waterfront), it was still a fine place for the event. The Belltown Central Committee - oops, I mean the Belltown Community Council organized the whole thing, so don't say that they never do anything. The only disappointing thing for me was that I was expecting the dogs to form some kind of marching band and maybe play a few Sousa tunes. Yeah, they didn't do that. Oh, well. But I did take quite a few photographs of the oddness.

It wasn't totally about the parade. Some people were actually trying to sell stuff. Gasp! Did you know there are humans you can hire to massage your pet? I find that just a little bit weird.

This was the only artificial dog there. All the others were real.

This was the scene at registration. Things moved slowly, because dogs don't write very legibly.

Here are the prize categories. Wow, DNA testing? That's even stranger and more excessive than pet massage.

How many pugs is too many? I say one; this lady says a million.

Maybe if this guy had been down in San Francisco with the Seahawks, the results of the game would have been less embarrassing.

A dog in a dress is still a dog...

Yes, very clever and all, but I have a question: where the heck do you keep a dog that large? This is Belltown, a neighborhood full of tiny apartments.

These guys aren't even dogs! They're ferrets! That reminds me of one of my Ukrainian grandma's old sayings: "You can put a leash on a ferret, but it will never be a dog." How true, how very true.

There was even a jazz band providing musical stylings. So yeah, this thing was a big deal all right.

At long last, the parade got started. Here are some members of the dachshund faction.

And here's a dog looking very chic in a matching bandanna/visor combination. Who's up for bingo? You are! Yes, you are!

And then they marched away. I could have followed. I could have waited for them to return. I could have been there when they handed out the prizes, but no. I had to watch the Seahawks lose badly to the 49ers. Even though I don't own a dog, I'm a dog person. It was really nice to see so many turning out to be seen. And although it was disappointing that there were no canine musicians, a good time was still had by all. Even the ferrets.

Seattle is quite a beautiful city, no doubt about that. The Belltown neighborhood doesn’t swing that way. Much of it is downright hideously ugly. If not for all that ugliness, there’d be nothing to see. I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’ve only just started taking notice. Please join me on this odyssey of unsightliness as we try to figure out why poor Belltown looks so bad.